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Sunday, December 30, 2012

The 2012 Jude Law Award

2004 was a monster year for Jude Law. He starred in or appeared in SIX films: Sky Captain and the World Of Tomorrow, I Heart Huckabees, Alfie, Closer, The Aviator, and Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. Plus, he was named People Magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive" (which was a no brainer because that award always goes to the person who has the biggest and hottest year). 2004 was such a big year for Jude Law that at the 2004 Oscars, host Chris Rock joked, "Who is Jude Law? Why is he in every movie that I've seen for the past 4 years? He's in everything. Even in the movies he's not in, if you look at the credits he made cupcakes or something".

In the vein of Law's ginormous year, I want to honor him by crowning a Jude Law Award Winner every year to the actor or actress who had the biggest year. But before we crown a winner, let's look to see who the runners up were.

THE LIST OF TEN FIELD

Tom Hardy

NUMBER OF FILMS: 3

1) This Means War

2) The Dark Knight Rises

3) Lawless

Bruce Willis

NUMBER OF FILMS: 3

1) Moonrise Kingdom

2) The Expendables II

3) Looper

Jonah Hill

NUMBER OF FILMS: 3

1) 21 Jump Street

2) The Watch

3) Django Unchained

Kristen Stewart

NUMBER OF FILMS: 3

1) Snow White and the Hunstman

2) Twilight: Breaking Dawn (Part II)

3) On The Road

Taylor Kitsch

NUMBER OF FILMS: 3

1) John Carter

2) Battleship

3) Savages

Jennifer Lawrence

NUMBER OF FILMS: 3

1) The Hunger Games

2) The House At The End Of The Street

3) Silver Linings Playbook

Liam Neeson

NUMBER OF FILMS: 4

1) The Grey

2) Wrath Of The Titans

3) Battleship

4) Taken 2

Anna Kendrick

NUMBER OF FILMS: 4

1) What To Expect When You're Expecting

2) ParaNorman

3) End Of Watch

4) Pitch Perfect

Elizabeth Banks

NUMBER OF FILMS: 5

1) Man On A Ledge

2) The Hunger Games

3) What To Expect When You're Expecting

4) People Like Us

5) Pitch Perfect

Bryan Cranston

NUMBER OF FILMS: 6

1) Red Tails

2) John Carter

3) Rock of Ages

4) Madagascar III: Europe's Most Wanted

5) Total Recall

6) Argo

THE RUNNER UP

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

NUMBER OF FILMS: 4

1) The Dark Knight Rises

2) Premium Rush

3) Looper

4) Lincoln

THE WINNER

Channing Tatum

NUMBER OF FILMS: 5

1) Haywire

2) The Vow

3) 21 Jump Street

4) Magic Mike

5) 10 Years

There have been actors who have starred in more films in 2012 than Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Channing Tatum, but there is no doubt that these two were the cream of the crop. No disrespect to Elizabeth Banks or Bryan Cranston, but they played bit parts in everything they were in and were never asked to carry a film in 2012. These two actors are in essentially everything so of course they are going to appear in the most films. However, nobody would proclaim that 2012 was the year of Elizabeth Bank or Bryan Cranston. This was the year of Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Channing Tatum.

If JoGo and Tatum had made the same number of films then Gordon-Levitt would be my 2012 winner. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is my man-crush and I think he is the most talented young actor currently working in Hollywood. Gordon-Levitt starred in the best film (in my opinion) of 2012 [Looper], he stole every scene he was in in The Dark Knight Rises, he was great in the criminally underrated Premium Rush, and he was in America's consensus #1 film in 2012 [Lincoln].

However, 2012 was undoubtedly the year of Channing Tatum. He was the actor that received the more buzz, he was (rightfully) named People Magazine's Sexiest Man Of The Year, and his meteoric rise to prominence seems unprecedented. He starred in his classic, go-to Nicholas Sparks movie, he was allowed to be an action guy in Haywire, he managed to be funnier than Jonah Hill in 21 Jump Street, and he managed to make ladies swoon in Magic Mike while also managed to make an incredibly dull movie somewhat entertaining through his charm, charisma, and general likeability. When people look back on 2012, they will undoubtedly say that this was the year of Channing Tatum. That 2012 Channing Tatum was easily like 2004's Jude Law.